Rabbit - Venison - Duck

[sarah430]

Is there something about these three proteins that make them better than some of the more common proteins such as chicken and turkey. One of my kitties (who are 95% commercial raw fed with some goats milk/yogurt and the occasional high quality wet) went through a period of vomiting so I took him to the vet. They couldn’t find anything definitive so gave home an anti-nausea injection and some subcutaneous fluids. He’s fine now. But the vet recommended rabbit for awhile and if that wasn’t available venison or duck. I forgot to ask why so I’m wondering if the collective wisdom here has any answers. I generally rotate between duck, turkey and chicken with some venison to a lesser amount.

Thanks!!

 

[mschauer]

It's not that those proteins are better, it's that they are usually novel proteins for a cat. Your vet probably suspects a protein intolerance to one or more of the proteins you are currently feeding and suggested rabbit, venison or duck because they aren't commonly fed. But you say you currently feed duck and venison. Does your vet know that?

 

[sarah430]

Thanks. No we didn’t discuss the specific proteins he was eating.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I can't help with anything scientific, but our cats go crazy for rabbit in any form. Baby Girl (as a kitten) would bring it back up, but now no one has any problems at all with it.
For some reason, the cats seem to strongly prefer the "weird" proteins that cost twice as much as stuff like chicken, sigh.

 

[lisahe]

Thanks. No we didn’t discuss the specific proteins he was eating.

That's really odd that the vet didn't ask! I agree with mschauer that he probably recommended those proteins think they'd all be new for your cats.

Does your cat have symptoms other than vomiting? Lots of things can be related to intolerances to various ingredients in food: other digestive issues and itching (which can include overgrooming to the point a cat licks off all its fur in one spot) are relatively common. Our previous cat, for example, had digestive issues (vomiting, blood on stool), overgrooming, and gunky ears.

 

[sarah430]

Thanks for your replies! He’s super healthy and hasn’t been acting sick at all, so it’s really odd. I’ve started giving them probiotics and found a supplement that’s for hair balls and general digestive support. So far so good only one vomit in two weeks.

I was rotating between rad cat venison and small batch chicken turkey and duck. Now that rad cat is gone I’m rotating with primal and have emphasized rabbit, venison and duck. These kitties eat better than me!